Wiki 9Minecraft Wiki 9Minecraft

Data packs

Add recipes, loot, advancements and whole mechanics using only JSON.

11Tools
6Reference pages
4Things to get right

A data pack changes what the game does without any code. Recipes, loot tables, advancements, predicates, functions, structures and world generation are all plain files that sit inside a world save or a server folder.

Four things to get right first

Where it goes

A data pack lives in <world>/datapacks/<your pack>/ with pack.mcmeta at the top and a data/ tree under it. /reload picks up changes without restarting.

Namespaces keep you out of trouble

Put your files under data/yourname/ rather than data/minecraft/. Anything you write in the minecraft namespace overwrites vanilla and will clash with the next pack someone installs.

Read the real file before you write yours

Every vanilla recipe, loot table and advancement is listed on this wiki exactly as it ships. Copying the shape of a working file is far faster than guessing at the schema.

One broken file kills the whole pack

A single missing comma makes the game refuse the pack and say so only in the log. Load after each file you add, not at the end.

Tools that do the work

Free, in the browser, nothing to install.

Datapack StudioAdvanced Loot Table BuilderPredicate & Condition BuilderRecipe & Tag BrowserDatapack JSON BuildersDatapack Content BuildersStructure & NBT Component ToolsAdvancement Tree BrowserCustom Painting & Disc AdderCutscene & Timeline BuildersPack.mcmeta Generator
Every Minecraft tool

Reference, straight from the game files

Read out of the game with Mojang’s own data generator, so it matches the version exactly.

RecipesLoot tablesTagsAdvancementsData componentsCommands

Other things you can make

Resource packsBedrock add-onsModsCommands and functionsSkins and capesBuilds and map artServers